The present invention relates to an intelligent table game system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a card dealing system incorporating playing cards with rank and suit information encoded thereon via micro-dots, and a shoe capable of reading such micro dots as a playing card is drawn from the shoe.
Card games in a casino are profitable, but are also prone to cheating and fraud by players, dealers and the pit crew. The fraudulent activity is therefore a significant source of the revenue losses at a casino. In order to prevent and/or mitigate these losses, casinos continue to identify and implement security features and enhancements. One such security device is a smart shoe that is capable of reading and tracking the rank and suit of playing cards which are drawn from the shoe. Such shoes may be capable of reading the rank characters and suit symbols directly from a standard playing card, or may read specialized data encoded on the playing card in some fashion.
Playing cards may be encoded with encrypted information that is machine readable. Normally, such information is invisible to the naked eye so as not to interfere with the standard aesthetics or functionality of the card, and so as not to be easily discerned by players. The encryption typically contains information regarding the rank and suit of the card, or other information. These coded playing cards serve an important role in enhancing the security at card games in casinos. With encoded playing cards, smart game devices such as electronic shoes can decode the encryption and identify the card value (rank and suit). This prevents players or dealers from introducing fraudulent playing cards into the game which might provide the player or dealer with an unfair advantage. Current encryption techniques use bar codes on the edges of cards or ultra violet (“UV”) reaction codes that are invisible to the naked eye.